Chapter 11: This Elixir of Growth Tastes Familiar

What would a poor person do if they won the lottery? They would probably buy everything they ever wanted.

That was how I felt now. I had both the white 100,000-unit Gcoin and 8,700 dark Gcoins in hand. Together, they became a whopping 108,700 Gcoins!

What to buy? Is there anything I might need?

I scanned the hundreds of items in the God’s Shop interface until my eyes were about to fall out.

Is there anything here that could help me?

I could still remember the day when the gate opened, leading to me almost getting killed by the Spiky Rhinoceros, as if it was yesterday.

“

Ugh

, there’s too many options.”

It seemed like there were thousands of pages, providing me with ample selection. However, some of the items were completely useless.

There were Noodles of the Flying Spaghetti Monster God, Steaming Hot Pizza of the Pineapple Pizza God, and even the Transparent Poop of the Invisible Pink Unicorn. Not to mention, they were worth a staggering 1,000,000 Gcoins each!

I may not be able to afford them at the moment, but I should avoid such trashy pitfalls and buy only the useful ones. I had to find something to protect myself, ideally before Brutal Killer (E) got activated again. I could still remember how it flickered ominously in my head.

“Alright. As planned, let’s buy this one first.” I tapped on a certain item in the God’s Shop catalog.

Pzzz.

Ding!

[You have purchased the Lowest-tier God Exclusive Item, Blessing of the Growth God.]

1,000 Gcoins turned into dust and dissipated. In the next moment, a crystal bottle materialized from my phone.

It really appeared!

I gulped dryly as I looked at the crystal bottle in fascination. The thumb-sized bottle was filled with glistening golden liquid. I was marveling at the unusual color when...

[The innate power of the Eye of the Blind God has been activated.]

[Appraising Blessing of the Growth God...]

Ding!

[Appraisal complete.]

Oh?

It seemed like the appraisal was a success. Some text appeared above the bottle.

-----

[Blessing of the Growth God]

Grade: Lowest-tier God

Description: Contains the bodily fluids of the Eternal Seeker, shed during his training to attain the highest level of divinity.

Special note: Consuming this will allow mortals to unleash their full potential. The more they drink, the better.

“So buy more!”

-----

The appraisal was fine and all, but the sales pitch kind of ruined it. The part about “bodily fluids” was especially concerning to me. Now, I could only see the shiny golden liquid as urine.

It’s quite gross. Should I really drink this?

I pulled out the stopper from the crystal bottle.

Pop!

“

Sniff sniff

. I can’t really smell anything.”

Had there been a disgusting, sweaty stench, I’d have thrown it out right away. Thankfully, there was no suspicious smell coming from the bottle.

“

Argh!

”

I shut my eyes tightly and downed the entire bottle, convincing myself that I was drinking a small dose of herbal tonic the whole time.

Gulp!

“Hmm?”

The sweet and sour flavor lingering at the tip of my tongue... It tasted oddly—no, extremely familiar! Surely, all writers who stayed up all night would recognize it! Why, it was the same drink that they jokingly labeled as the “potion”!

“Isn’t this Bacchus-F?” I murmured, unable to hide my disbelief.

Also, it absolutely did nothing! I was furious! Fuck, I felt scammed!

Was it because it was created by my G-rank ability?

But if that were the case, the title Brutal Killer wouldn’t have manifested a gate with a monster coming out of it.

Then, was all of this a mere coincidence?

No, there was no way.

[The more they drink, the better. “So buy more!”]

“Alright, let’s give it another try.”

I have around 7,000 dark Gcoins left, on top of the 100,000-unit white Gcoin. I readily purchased six Blessing of the Growth God, and emptied the bottles one by one.

Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!

However, nothing happened.

“Damn it!”

That’s right, I’m a pushover.

Usually, in novels, a potion would grant abilities equivalent to those of an S-rank Hunter. And yet here I was, not expecting anything and still getting disappointed. At this point, I seriously doubted whether the God’s Shop had any use.

Ding!

“Hmm?”

[God Maker’s assimilation rate has increased.]

[0% → 5%]

[Yu Il-Shin's innate power has been boosted in accordance with the assimilation rate.]

“Assimilation rate? What’s that?” I was flustered by the content of the message.

Ping!

I suddenly felt a pang of dizziness and lost consciousness.

Ding!

[The title Benevolent Savior (F) has been activated!]

[A ‘small miracle’ is happening to Yu Il-Shin.]

***

Katalk katalk!

[1]

I woke up to the sound coming from my phone. I opened my eyes and saw the sunlight peering through my window.

How long was I out?

Ugh, my head is about to explode.

That damn Bacchus-F! I’m never touching it again!

Katalk katalk!

Still, who was relentlessly sending me these messages? With drowsy eyes, I peeked at my phone.

Oh, it’s my editor.

Mighty Editor-in-Charge: Despite your harrowing experience with a gate, you still completed your manuscript. You even wrote your novel based on that experience! Your dedication is truly admirable! T.T You’re indeed a natural! Please keep up the good work!

He’s showing how much of a martial arts geek he is!

Anyway, what was he talking about? Manuscript? After the one I had sent a few days back, I hadn’t written a single line.

Guess who’s getting drunk in broad daylight!

Yu Il-Shin the Almighty: Manuscript? What do you mean? I think you texted the wrong writer.

Mighty Editor-in-Charge: Of course not. I’m talking about the manuscript you sent last night. I read it just now. It was so good, I had to call you right away. Let’s do the ritual and hit the jackpot, Writer Yu Il-Shin! Hahaha!

Throb throb!

My head was still pounding, probably due to Bacchus-F. It was so unlike the editor-in-charge to spout nonsense so early in the morning.

Yu Il-Shin the Almighty:

Um

, Could you send over the manuscript you supposedly received from me? There might be some misunderstanding here.

Mighty Editor-in-Charge:

Aw

, Writer Yu. It must be the after-effects of the incident. T.T You couldn’t even recall having written the manuscript. Unbelievable T.T Hold on a sec.

Katalk katalk!

Along with the notification sound came a message with an attachment.

Yu Il-Shin New Novel(Title WIP).hwp

I opened the Word document and slowly read through it.

Wait, what?

Despite having no memory of ever writing this, I recognized the writing style as mine. Moreover, the contents went through everything that had happened to me after I gained access to God-Maker.

What stood out to me the most was the scene where a random gate appeared, in which I was almost killed by the Spiky Rhinoceros, before ultimately being saved by Thunder Emperor. Not to mention, my saving the Saintess recently in the game was also there.

It was written with such detail; it was as if I was reading my own journal. Moreover, some of the tidbits there were things that only I would know. Not only that, events that had yet to happen were also documented in it.

The emperor of the empire of red ants, who had unified the entire continent, ordered the purge of the tribe of black ants and the last of the gods dwelling in the mystical forest of Ausrilla. Thus, a powerful army of 100,000-strong, led by General Stoogi, began their invasion.

Defeating barbarian tribes hiding in the forest was an easy task for the seasoned imperial army. Deeming it a huge disgrace to have a large army go against such a weak opponent, General Stoogi decided to lead a smaller group of soldiers for the conquest.

True to Stoogi’s expectations, the black tribe stood no chance against him. After ransacking their village, he set his sights on their spiritual anchor, the Saintess. She was the exact reason why their emperor had dispatched the troops to that insignificant land. The Saintess of the black ants was blessed by the god. Legend had it that she could grant immortality, hence the emperor sought to get his hands on her.

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

However, before they could capture the Saintess, the ancient monster worshiped by the black tribe suddenly appeared. In the blink of an eye, it wiped out Stoogi and his entire army. The Saintess and the survivors of the black tribe rejoiced, praising the monster.

Nevertheless, Stoogie’s 100,000-man invincible army remained. Upon hearing the tragic demise of General Stoogi from his deputy general, Hibiscus, the emperor led the remaining soldiers, determined to eradicate the survivors and the monster.

The document ended there.

Katalk katalk!

Mighty Editor-in-Charge: I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next. Numbers are just numbers, it’d be too hard to kill them all with just a finger right? I’ll be waiting for the next episode, Writer Yu ^^

No, wait. I don’t recall writing this at all.

Just then, a notification rang, and the cave in God-Maker appeared on the screen. Gathered there was the termite named Saintess, along with roughly 100 other black ants. They kneeled on the ground, bowing to me.

[The Saintess and her 101 subjects earnestly plead for salvation from God Yu Il-Shin!]

[O’ great and merciful God Yu Il-Sin, please deliver our tribe from the clutches of the malicious empire!]

Dudududu!

At the same time, my phone vibrated violently, about 100 times stronger than usual! I reflexively dropped it to the floor.

[The innate power of the Eye of the Blind God has been activated.]

The dungeon where the Unknown God dwelled in was flooded by a red river. No, that wasn’t a river. It was a huge cluster of living creatures. My eyes instantly went round at the horrifying sight.

Crrrk! Crrrk! Crrrk! Crrrk!

The sound they made combined into one, like a stereo turned up to maximum volume.

Marabunta.

I heard it was a term used to refer to a swarm of death ants, often appearing in the Amazons. They would bulldoze through anything that blocked their path. But this swarm of ants I saw through the ability was just as vicious, if not more, and their murderous intent was clearly directed at me.

Ding!

Another message appeared on God-Maker.

[Following the increase in assimilation rate, God-Maker’s battlefield has been upgraded.]

An upgrade to the battlefield? What’s that...?

Just then, the ant leading the army raised its pincers and yelled.

-Charge! Slay that evil god! It’s for the sake of the Great Emperor and the late General Stoogi!

-Waaaaah!

-Kill the monster of the black tribe!

Claaash!

Like water bursting from a broken faucet, the red ants began swarming out from my phone and into the real world.

1. Korea's most popular messaging app, its notification sound follows the name of the app. ☜